Saturday, May 25, 2013

Cowboy Trail O'Neill Depot - NEGPP #9

While visiting our family in Atkinson over Memorial Day weekend, we decided to begin our Great Park Pursuit by visiting O'Neill. It was only a 20 minute drive from Atkinson, so we hit it early one morning. First a little background:

The Cowboy Trail is the nation's longest rail to trail conversion. This means that it once was a railroad, but when it closed down, the tracks were removed and the trail was smoothed and covered with crushed rock, gravel, and concrete to form a trail that when finished will reach from Norfolk to Chadron. Begun in 1994, the project converted the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad that wound through the Sandhills into a trail for hiking, biking, running, or horseback riding. 


The post was not hard to find, only a few yards from the parking lot. The girls quickly took a rubbing and we decided to take a short walk and have a learning experience. Jeremy explained to the girls how he remembered growing up while the train still used the tracks.

Jeremy explaining how the tracks work.
The girls love to run ahead.

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